Subject: Beau on CNN's Situation Room
From: "Molly Magarik" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>, "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, "Ron Olivere" <[email-masked]>, "Valerie Owens" <[email-masked]>, "jack owens" <[email-masked]>, "Cuffe Owens" <[email-masked]>, "Missy Owens" <[email-masked]>, "Casey Owens" <[email-masked]>, "Ted Kaufman" <[email-masked]>, "Mike Donilon" <[email-masked]>, "Eric Schwerin" <[email-masked]>, "Alexander Snyder-Mackler" <[email-masked]>, "Chung, Kathy" <[email-masked]>,
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:02:50 -0500

Hi everyone--

Tonight, Beau will be on the Situation Room to discuss the gun violence
legislation that he proposed today with the Governor.  The hit time is
5:20pm.

Below are some early clips from the press conference--

** <http://www.wdel.com/story.php?id=48365>

*Tighter gun control proposed for
Delaware*<http://www.wdel.com/story.php?id=48365>

*Amy Cherry *

Governor Markell and Attorney General Biden take the wraps off five
proposed gun safety regulations meant to make Delawareans safer.

Using the one month anniversary of the Sandy Hook tragedy, Governor Markell
and Attorney General Beau Biden are seeking an all-out ban on assault
rifles and semi-automatic weapons.

*"These are weapons of mass destruction that are meant for battle," says
Biden.
*
Other measures include banning the sale of large capacity magazines.

"Every one of these mass shootings has used a large capacity magazine. It
is the essential piece of equipment for a criminal, who wants to shoot a
lot of people," says Denn.

If the proposed measure becomes law, those who already own large capacity
magazines would be permitted to keep them, but would be banned from
possessing them in public.

Denn calls the issue of gun control one that's "intractable" in other
states and in D.C. and it won't stay that way in Delaware.

"We will not bury our heads in the sand pretend that gun violence has
nothing to do with guns," Denn says.

The proposed measures also seek to prohibit guns within 1,000 feet of a
school. Those who own guns and live within a school zone would be exempt,
so long as the gun stays on their property.

The remaining measures would require lost or stolen guns to be reported
within 48 hours, and background checks for private gun sales.

"A system that ignores four out of every ten gun sales is a system that is
broken, and we need to fix it," says Markell.

Of these five measures, the biggest battle will, no doubt, be the ban on
assault rifles.
*
"...which will be a fight. This will not a be a Democrats versus
Republicans issue. I stand here before you saying it does not infringe upon
the Second Amendment," AG Biden says. *

And it looks like that battle has already begun. The National Rifle
Association has issued a statement saying Governor Markell isn't as
interested in protecting children as he is in protecting the anti-gun
agenda. The group says the law abiding Delawareans who responsibly exercise
their right to own a gun are being demonized.

The Delaware State Sportsmen's Association also expressing deep
disappointment over what they're calling Markell's "anti-gun measures."

Calling it "political theater," the group says none of the proposed
measures will make anyone safer or effectively address the criminal gang
violence plaguing the City of Wilmington.
Gun control measured unveiled in
Delaware<http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/component/flexicontent/items/item/49542-gun-control-measured-unveiled-in-delaware?__utma=94775514.1342934643.1358187871.1358187871.1358187871.1&__utmb=94775514.3.10.1358187871&__utmc=94775514&__utmx=-&__utmz=94775514.1358187871.1.1.utmcsr=%28direct%29%7Cutmccn=%28direct%29%7Cutmcmd=%28none%29&__utmv=-&__utmk=116029326>

  January 14, 2013
  By Mark Eichmann

Delaware Governor Jack Markell revealed a package of five measures designed
to prevent gun violence in the state in reaction to last month's shooting
massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut.

Markell marked the one month anniversary of the second deadliest school
shooting in U.S. history by taking the wraps of his agenda to reduce gun
violence. He expects plenty of debate over these measures in the General
Assembly.

"I respect the 2nd Amendment, but the measures that we propose today are
entirely constitutional," he said.

Markell pledged that no member of his administration would question the
intentions of any lawmaker who disagrees with his agenda. "I expect a
robust debate, but I believe this is not a debate about the 2nd Amendment."

Background checks

The agenda includes background checks for all gun sales.  Markell says 60
percent of gun sales happen with licensed dealers and the requisite
background checks, but that means 40 percent of sales are between private
citizens, sales that don't require background checks. Markell says a system
that doesn't check four out of 10 gun purchases is a system that is broken.

"In Delaware, over the past seven years, about 3,500 applications for gun
transfers or permits were denied because the applicant failed a background
check. There's nothing to stop those applicants from obtaining a gun if
they choose to purchase from someone other than a licensed dealer."  State
Rep. Valerie Longhurst will sponsor the background check bill.

Reporting lost or stolen guns

In an effort to help police track guns used in crimes, Markell wants to
implement a mandatory reporting requirement for lost or stolen weapons. He
says all too often police questioning a gun owner about why their gun was
at the scene of a crime, only to have the owner say the gun had been stolen
some time ago.  Quoting a 2002 study, Markell says 1.7 million firearms
were stolen from 1993 to 2002.  He says more than one million of those guns
were still missing as of the time of the study.  Almost 300 guns were
reported stolen in Delaware last year.

Currently, gun owners have no requirement to report lost or stolen weapons.
"Without mandatory reporting, there's very little the police can do when an
owner says, 'I lost my gun,' even even if they suspect the owner really
sold it to a criminal," Markell said.

Under Markell's plan, gun owners would have 48 hours to report a loss or
stolen gun.  Seven other states and the District of Columbia have similar
requirements. State Senator Margaret Rose Henry will be the prime sponsor
of this bill.

Ban on large magazines

Lieutenant Governor Matt Denn presented the third piece of the gun agenda,
a ban on the sale, purchase, transfer or delivery of a large-capacity
magazine.  Denn says a study of 30 mass shootings in the US over the past
40 years showed a common denominator — large-capacity magazines. "It is the
essential piece of equipment for a criminal who wants to shoot a lot of
people," Denn said.

Denn says it is often when gunmen have to reload that police or someone
else are able to intervene to stop a mass shooting. He says reducing the
number of bullets in a magazine would require a shooter to reload more
often and create more opportunities for intervention.

Specifically, the legislation would limit magazines to 10 bullets for
handguns and 5 bullets for a rifle or shotgun.

*Assault weapons ban*

*Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden outlined the final two parts of the
agenda, and maybe the most controversial.  That includes the fourth part of
the plan which calls for a ban on automatic and semi-automatic weapons that
were designed for military use and equipped with military features.  *

*Biden, who served in the Delaware National Guard for a tour of duty in
Iraq, says that's where those types of weapons are useful, not here on the
streets of Delaware. "The military-style weapon that is assigned to me
resides in an armory under lock and key because it's needed only in one
place, and that is Iraq and Afghanistan," he said. He says they are weapons
of mass destruction that are meant for battle.  *

*Biden admits that getting the assault weapons ban will be a fight. "This
will not be a Democrats versus Republican issue," he said. "I stand here
before you saying it does not infringe upon the 2nd Amendment, which I
strongly believe in."*

No guns near schools

The fifth point in the plan would ban the possession of a gun within 1,000
feet of a school. "We need to do more to protect our students, especially
when there's a discussion about arming more people in our schools," Biden
said. People who live near schools would be exempt from the prohibition
while on their own private property.

Biden says this measure would create a safe school zone and give parents
more peace of mind when dropping off their children at school that they
will not become the next victims of gun violence.

Markell said the state also needs to address the ways it helps young people
struggling with mental illness and improve school safety.  He plans to
cover those topics in more detail in this Thursday's State of the State
Address.
State officials propose gun
legislation<http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20130114/NEWS/130114014/State-officials-propose-gun-legislation>
*WILMINGTON — *A statewide ban on assault-style weapons and a limit on
high-capacity magazines were among gun violence proposals presented this
morning by the state's top elected officials.

Gov. Jack Markell, Lt. Gov. Matt Denn and Attorney General Beau Biden held
a news conference in Wilmington to announce the proposals.

Biden, whose father Vice President Joe Biden is leading the Obama
administration's effort on gun violence, took the lead on the weapons ban,
which would restrict the sale and possession of assault-style weapons
within Delaware's borders.

*"These weapons were designed for battle and simply have no place on our
streets," said Biden, adding that the legislation has yet to be drafted,
promising details soon. *

Other proposals presented today:

• Would restrict the possession of a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school,
but exempt nearby residents.

• Make mandatory background checks for all private sales, not just those
occurring at gun shows.

• Require mandatory reporting of lost or stolen firearms within 48 hours of
the incident.

Markell said none of the measures restrict rights of citizens to own
firearms.

"I respect the Second Amendment. But the measures we propose today are
entirely Constitutional," Markell said. "I expect a robust debate. That
said, I believe this is not a debate about the Second Amendment."

*Contact Jonathan Starkey at 983-6756, on Twitter @jwstarkey or at
[email-masked].